"The Plague" in Albert Camus's fiction Item Type text; Dissertation-Reproduction (electronic) Authors Ast, Bernard Edward Jr., 1963- Publisher The University of Arizona. Rights Copyright © is held by the author. Digital access to this material is made possible by the University Libraries, University of Arizona. Further transmission, reproduction or presentation (such as public display or performance) of protected items is prohibited except with permission of the author. Download date 27/09/2021 14:03:07 Link to Item http://hdl.handle.net/10150/288839 INFORMATION TO USERS This manuscript has been reproduced from the microfilm master. UMI films the text directly from the origmal or copy submitted. Thus, some thesis and dissertation copies are in typewriter &ce, while others may be from any type of computer printer. The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. 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Contact UMI directly to order. UMI A Bell & Howell Informatioa Company 300 North Zedb Road, Ann Aibor MI 48106-1346 USA 313/761-4700 800/521-0600 THE PLAGUE IN ALBERT CAMUS'S FICTION by Bernard Edward Ast. Jr. Copyrigh¥^ernard Edward Ast. Jr. 1998 A Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of the FRENCH AND ITALIAN DEPART.MENT In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY WITH A MAJOR IN FRENCH In the Graduate College of THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA 19 9 8 UMX Number: 9831855 Copyright 1998 by Ast, Bernard Edward, Jr. All rights reserved. UMI Microform 9831855 Copyright 1998, by UMI Company. Ail rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. UMI 300 North Zeeb Road Ann Arbor, MI 48103 2 THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA ® GRADUATE COLLEGE As members of the Final Examination Committee, we certify that we have read the dissertation prepared by Bernard Edward Ast, Jr. entitled The Plaque in Albert Camus' s Fiction and recommend that it be accepted as fulfilling the dissertation requirement for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Dace f Dr. Regihald McGinnis _ Date h'jf Dr. Monique Wittig Date Dr. Elizabeth Zegura Date Date Final approval and acceptance of this dissertation is contingent upon the candidate's submission of the final copy of the dissertation to the Graduate College. I hereby certify that I have read this dissertation prepared under my direction and recommend that it be accepted as fulfilling the dissertation requirement. — '2oA±nfjjj£' Dissertation Director R^in^ld McGinnis Date Dr. Monique Wittig 3 STATEMENT BY THE AUTHOR This dissertation has been submitted in partial fulfillment of requirements for an advanced degree at The University of Arizona and is deposited in the University Library to be made available to borrowers under the rules of the Library. Brief quotations from this dissertation are allowable without special permission, provided that accurate acknowledgment of source is made. Requests for permission for extended quotations from or reproduction of this manuscript in whole or in part may be granted by the copyright holder. SIG-N'ED: ACKNOWLEDGMENTS: I would like to thank Professors Lise Leibacher. Reginald McGinn Monique Wittig and Elizabeth Zegura for their valuable suggestions and comments on this dissertation. 0 DEDICATION: For one of the kindest and wisest people I've ever known: Professor Ingeborg Kohn. 6 TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT 8 REGARDING THE REFERENCE SYSTEM 9 REGARDING THE TRANSLATIONS 10 PREFACE II CHAPTER 1: AGGRESSORS (SCOURGE AS AGENT) 19 1.1 The Plague 19 1.2 Other Tyrants 26 1.3 The Inner Plague 29 1.4 Poverty 38 1.5 Infirmity (Physical and Mental) 44 1.6 Climate 53 CHAPTER 2: AGGRESSION (SCOURGE AS ACTION) 57 2.1 Exile 57 2.2 Imprisonment 66 2.3 Physical Separation from Loved Ones 73 2.4 Existential Separation 83 2.5 Solitude 96 2.6 Death 105 2.7 Murder 117 2.8 Execution 129 2.9 Suicide 136 CHAPTER 3: VICTIMS 144 3.1 Children 144 3.2 Artists 150 3.3 Clergy 165 3.4 Judges 174 3.5 Lawyers 180 CHAPTER 4; THE THIRD DOMAIN 187 4.1 True Doctors 187 4.2 Friendship 191 4.3 Happiness 197 4.4 Sea 204 4.5 Light 208 ( TABLE OF CONTENTS-Continued AFTERWORD 211 NOTES 216 REFERENCES 220 8 ABSTRACT This dissertation catalogues and examines Albert Camus's thematic repetitiveness as seen in his fiction and in how this repetitiveness relates to the world view presented in the so-called guillotine passage in his novel The Plague: that the world consists of scourges, victims, and an elusive third domain. A scourge can be an aggressor. It causes suffering and even death. The plague and other infirmities, both physical and mental, are aggressors. They are indiscriminate, merciless, and oftentimes deadly. Tyrants, too, are aggressors, some of which cling to the arbitrary, while others have a considerably more formal agenda. An aggressor can be metaphysical: the inner plague. Some aggressors, like poverty and the climate, can also have a positive side to them. A scourge can also be an aggression—what the aggressor causes. They usually cannot be justified (e.tistential separation, death, murder, e.xecution. suicide), but some aggressions lead to enlightenment or positive change (exile, imprisonment, separation from loved ones). Yet one aggression, solitude of a certain kind, can actually be a desired and pleasant experience. Victims are the second domain. Camus focuses primarily on children, artists, clergy, judges and lawyers. The first three groups are presented in a balanced fashion, with emphasis on both the positive and the negative. Judges and lawyers are presented in a negative light, with only slight deviations. The third domain consists of true doctors (true friends) and peace/happiness, with true doctors--who are not necessarily doctors—contributing to the attainment of happiness or at least an improvement in circumstances. Light, the sea, other aspects of nature and sensual pleasures can also contribute to finding peace/happiness. 9 Regarding The Reference System For Albert Camus's most popular works. I shall use a variety of editions, which are listed in the reference section of this dissertation. For works quoted from the Theatre, recits. nouvelles volume of the Pleiade edition. I shall use the notation PT just before the page number, e.g.. (PT. 455). For works quoted from the E.ssais volume of the Pleiade edition. I shall use the notation PE Just before the page number, e.g.. (PE. 455). Camus's notebooks, his Carnets. are in three volumes. I shall refer to a given volume via the corresponding number, followed by a C. then followed by the page number. For example. (2C, 66) would designate a quote from the second volume of his published notebooks, page 66. Camus wrote several articles for L'Express. Some of these appear in his Actuelles series, which can be found in the Essais Pleiade volume. For those articles not appearing in the Actuelles series. I shall be quoting from .A.lbert Camus editorialiste a L'E.xpress. which is listed in the reference section. For such quotations, my notation will be an Ex immediately followed by the page number, e.g., (E.\78). Camus's private writings pertaining to his North and South .American travels have been compiled into a volume titled Journaux de voyages. For references to this work, my notation will be a V immediately followed by the page number, e.g.. (V32). 10 Regarding The Translations All quoted material from Albert Camus and scholarly articles and books originally not in English has been translated into English. All translations are my own unless otherwise noted. For several of Camus's more significant quotations, the original French is provided in endnotes. 11 Preface In reference to a number of French literary greats, Albert Camus writes: "The grand characteristic of these novelists is that...they always say the same thing and always with the same tone. To be a classic is to repeat oneself" (PT, 1898). In his last interview. Camus says while referring to his plays, essays and novels: "These different books say, it is true, the same thing. But after all, they have the same author, and they ail form one single work" (PE. 1926)(1). And in a different interview, he is asked about what marks the creator. He answers, in part: "The power of renewal. Without a doubt, he always says the same thing, but he renews the forms tirelessly" (PE. 1922). Camus's own literary repetitiveness is quite obvious. What I noticed first was how many Bernards there are: The doctor in The Plague (La Peste) is named Bernard Rieux. The one in The Happv Death (La Mort heureuse) is Dr. Bernard. The teacher in The First Man (Le Premier homme) is Mr.